tailgating. bill: snowing outside it is your kind of weather. martha: exactly. have a great day everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow. "happening now" starts right now. jenna: breaking news on today's top headlines and brand new stories you will see here first. jon: the latest from the newlywed murder trial. a montana woman accused of pushing her new husband off a cliff to his death. what prosecutors are now saying about the couple's relationship. the future is here now. researchers use nano medicine to treat infections. closer look at technology that could stop drug resistant bacteria in its tracks. >> >> also an abduction caught on tape. police release the video in hopes of finding the victim. it is all "happening now." jon: and good morning to you. a messy tuesday in new york. i'm jon scott. >> hi everybody. great to see you. i'm jenna lie. there is new concerns about

alleged discriminatory practices under obamacare. as you know the affordable care act says no one can be denied health insurance due to preexisting conditions but according to a new report insurance companies are now devising ways to discourage sick people from signing up. jon: some much those new health plans require patients to pay for as much as 50% of the cost of their medicine. the expensive stuff they need to treat chronic illnesses like hiv. let's bring in our panel. a.b. stoddard, associate editor, columnist for "the hill." stephen hayes, senior writer to "the weekly standard" and fox news contributor. how do they find a way to get around what obamacare is supposed to say about this? >> well, the problem is, that even though the insurance companies were made to take now the sick and the risky doesn't mean they're not supposed to stop balancing risks. so as they give somebody over here a free preventative screening and somebody over

there new access to health care, there is the sick person somewhere who needs very expensive medication that is will find that that medication is not either in the network of medications covered or if it is, they're paying much more of it out of their pocket and doesn't count toward the deductible. this is alarming surprise for people who are dependent upon very specific critical medications. if they end up, obviously having to pay them out-of-pocket, in some cases they are up to thousands of dollars a month for rheumatoid arthritis, as you mentioned hiv, multiple sclerosis. this is very alarming to people who thought this was finally a gateway to health care coverage that they weren't able to have before. jon: the drug companies, steve, are say that when high-priced medications are used it's reasonable to expect patients to pick up more of the tab but i think, you know, under obamacare, whatever, i think a lot of these patients are astounded to find some of the

dollar figures they're expected to pay. >> right. they are but the details matter here. i don't think it should be any surprise that insurance companies in many ways are being squeezed by this law are going to look for profits where they can find them. here is one place they can find them. ab described exactly correctly, they will look to not cover these expensive drugs as a way of discouraging people from choosing their plans and perhaps choosing plans that will better cover the drug that is they need. here's an interesting point though. i think this is likely to get worse. unless obamacare completely collapses under its own weight, which i still think is possible, maybe even likely, unless that happens, this is virtually certain to get worse because the problem, i mean, the balance that ab describes where you need the young, healthy people to sign up for insurance to subsidize the coverage of older and less healthy people, that is way out of whack right now and

there is no sign that it is going to improve in the near future. so insurance companies will be further squeezed and will look to squeeze whatever dollars they can get out of the coverage that they're offering in the coming years. so this is a problem not likely to be solved anytime soon. jon: some samples, a. b. there is health care company that looked at 600 insurance plans, there are people, cancer patients and the like who have very expensive drug tabs, in some cases $15,000 a month, but they are still expected to pay 1,000 to $6,000 of that at least, the first month. there are going to be thousands of people who can't afford that kind of coverage. >> not only that, in some cases insurance companies will be asking doctors to do what they call fail first or step therapy. and what that is try this other medicine we want you to try first, even if the doctor doesn't think it is appropriate

prescription for that patient. when that fails we'll talk to you about the other drug or try these four before you get to the one you think you have sights on and appropriate for patient care. this is not only going to be a expensive prospect, it is likely to make a certain population of the newly covered sicker because they will avoid taking medications if they're too expensive. jon: steven, doesn't that put the government or the insurance companies in the position of playing doctor and in some respects playing god here? >> well no question about it. you already heard from hhs and cms that they're going to ask insurance companies to respond within three days to people who are asking for exception to this policy, who aren't able to get drugs they can get but there is no mandate that the insurance companies have to provide them or provide them in a costly way. the prospector of this being solved anytime soon i think is very remote. in addition it should be pointed out some of this is already happening. you have people in the country now who have gotten letters from insurance companies that have

either canceled plans or offered them new plans that will be more costly that won't be covering their drugs. you've got patients consulting with doctors today to try to come up with different medicine cocktails to, in effect do the same thing that the more expensive drugs would do. so somebody taking one pill today, could be taking three pills tomorrow in an attempt to replicate the effects of drugs they have been taking but it's a risky prospect. there is no guaranty of success. as ab points out it ultimately might be more expensive if you take a series of drugs in advance and one drug and next to the next before you get the drug you need and get coverage that you want. jon: if you liked your medicine you can keep your medicine, that may not be true. >> if you pay more for it as ezekiel emanuel might say. jon: all right. steve hayes, a.b. stoddard. thank you both. >> thanks. jenna: back to one of our other top stories today, fox news weather alert. storm warnings are in effect as

snow and ice blast the eastern united states. a fast-moving storm whipping across the country now hitting airs from the mountains to new york city. it is expected to drop several inches of snow in a few hours. that is leading to dangerous roads and school closing and major flight delays really nationwide. meteorologist maria molina is here with more on all of this. hey, maria. >> hello. nice to see you. you're absolutely right about the flight delays. this is one of the biggest impacts from the storm system. we're looking delays averaging right now, these are inbound flights to some airports, newark international over five-hour delays at that airport. over at philly international, delays over four hours. pack the patience if you're headed to airports. we have poor visibility. that is hindering traveling in some of these airports. otherwise the snow is coming down in parts of virginia, maryland, new jersey, up into southern areas of new england and it has been doing so throughout this morning and we've been seeing some

accumulation out through some of these areas. as far as how much snow we're expecting, higher accumulations of three to six inches are forecast where we have the winter storm warnings. they have been allowed to expire for washington, d.c. and for baltimore. now the winter storm warnings are west of those cities. that's where we see some higher accumulations of three to six inches. overall, generally three inches for many of these areas. winter weather advisories do stretch anywhere from parts of tennessee all the way up to parts of southern massachusetts this is a very widespread storm system impacting this area. timing, heading into 3:00 p.m. on tuesday we think the worst of it will be well over across philadelphia, washington, d.c., just in time for the evening commute home. otherwise across new york city, we're going to see that many coulding to an end as well. in boston, it will be snowing for your evening drive home. so please be careful on the roadways. accumulation out there, very light. just one to two inches. really worst thing out there will be visibility impacting you for the evening commute home.

otherwise lake-effect snow expected. over a foot of it downwind of lake ontario and downwind of lake erie. a lot of snowfall accumulation coming up over the next 48 hours due to lake-effect snow the other big story is the cold. some current windchill temperatures across the midwest, rockies bitterly cold. look at them. more than 20 degrees below zero in fargo. 11 below zero in minneapolis is what it feels like as people head out the door. jon: my daughter did not have school this morning. she is very happy. jenna: where is she? jon: she is home, a little bit north of here. jenna: snow day. jon: i'm looking outside. it doesn't look that bad. >> we're in a little bit of a lull. jenna: maria, i hope she is watching "happening now." has no excuse. jon: probably still asleep. teenagers. jenna: marie you yaw, thank you. >> thank you. jon: prosecutors say cody johnson was head over heels in love with his new wife but

jordan graham had serious doubts about their marriage. that is why she killed him. the judge is fast tracking the sensational murder trial. the latest from the courtroom just ahead. plus an investigation launched over the obamacare website. what congressman darrell issa is planning to do now. he is here life to explain next.

jon: right now new info on some crime stories we're keeping an eye on. philadelphia police released surveillance video what appears to be abduction. man was grabbing a woman and forcibly put her into a car as she screams for help. witnesses dialing 911 from nearby buildings. so far no signs of a victim. murder trial is underway for

jordan graham. prosecutors say she pushed her husband off a cliff to her death and lied about it to police. she says it was all an accident. the couple had been married for just eight days. domestic violence charges dropped against a famous hiker. aron ralston inspired a feature film after amputating his own arm to free himself from a boulder. ralston and his girlfriend were arrested after a fight. she is still facing charges. >> breaking news now on the health care law and it is about a concern we talked a lot about here on this program, the safety of your personal information on the obamacare website. now house oversight committee chairman darrell issa says he will subpoena a company that did security testing on the site. we need to learn more about this. joining us now, california congressman darrell issa. congressman, nice to have you back on the program. tell us a little bit what you plan to do and who are you naming in the s&p? >> well, thank you, jenna. last night i, 70 days after the

lawn. of the obamacare website, i issued a subpoena to mightier corporation, one of the lead i.t. providers one, all indications are gave warnings of real security flaws on the day of the launch. i waited 70 days, 10 days after president obama said mission accomplished, we're all fixed and up and running. now we need to make sure that all of those gaps have been filled, all of those security shortcomings have been corrected. and of course the new ones that pop up whenever you're modifying software. jenna: what do you want to find out from this company? >> well first of all we need to see clearly the unredacted forms of what these exact gaps were and why the decision was made to go forward in a launch when they hadn't been fixed but more importantly our investigators need to have this material as we ask individuals at health and human services and other agencies about what they knew, when they knew it and why they

made the decisions they made before, during, and of course even after the launch of the website. jenna: and what will that tell you? what do you hope to achieve? >> well, i think quite frankly as we look at i.t. reform and process reform we really need to make sure that the next time the signature legislation or the not so signature legislation of a president is being worked on at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, that those dollars aren't being wasted. in this case, every time this website doesn't do its job, potentially millions of people and billions of dollars get wasted. jenna: so your, i mean using this term and correct me if it is not the right one, your accusation of miter, company did security checks, they didn't do the security checks right or did the security checks right and they warned our government of the problems and our government went ahead regardless of that? what exactly is the time frame

that you're looking at and what is that going to tell you? >> that's a great question and i want to put it in context. we have looked at these documents in a redacted form, with some information excluded. we've even looked at what they call in camera. investigators looked at some of this information in its full form but were not allowed to take notes or the take the documents. we're saying0 days after the launch these documents had better be stale? in other words these shortcomings in security need to be fixed and the assertion that somehow these are not appropriate for to us look at to make sure that what needed to be fixed was fixed gets fixed, i want to make one thing clear. miter was in fact the canary in the coal mine. they were the ones published these reports that showed what needed still to be done and why at least in some people's opinion, this website was not ready to be launched. >> interesting you say the canary in the coal mine.

we heard from miter in congress, one of their representatives testified about their involvement in the new health care law. here is what he had to say. >> we're not in charge of security for healthcare.gov. we were not asked or nor did we perform end to end security testing. we have no view on the overall safety or security status of healthcare.gov. jenna: that being said, why do you still feel they're the ones to talk to? >> because they produced document that is we've been made aware of that show not end to end failures because this was never tested end to end but piece by piece security gaps. you know in many on the other side will say, if these documents become public this is roadmap to hackers. jenna, there are hackers every day going after this website. if these known flaws that existed on act 1st, haven't been fixed, but 60 or 70 days, we could have vulnerability.

congress has responsibility especially when there is known agreed, colossal failure to make sure theixes have been done especially when the president of the united states and his cabinet say at the end of 60 days it is fixed. jon: it is working. jenna: sure. >> we need to make sure from a safety standpoint it is. >> what your timeline on that as representative of voters and being on oversight which is important job. you're mentioning backwards to look forward and do a better job next time and make sure that we're secure now. realistically, when do you think you will be confident that this website is secure? >> well, i think that you are never completely confident. no website is perfect and don't we pretend there won't be future bug fixes. the question is, one that is were known prior to october 1st, have they all been properly patched? has there been end to end stress test on this site so we can be confident at least, it meets the standards that ebay or craig's list or yahoo! would have for

their sites? you know that is really the challenge here. we spent more federal dollars to do a bad job than private sector free enterprise entities would have spent to do a good job. we need to stop doing that. one thing that i would like to put a little pitch in for, we have bipartisan legislation that needs to move forward that really changes the structure of how government does i.t. procurement to make it much more like you would do it in the private sector in order to get value for your stockholders. jenna: i will take a bipartisan pitch any day. >> thank you. jenna: congressman, an interesting story. one we will continue to watch. one we focus ad lot on the show how secure the information is. we look forward to having you back, getting update where this is going and next steps. >> thank you. jenna: we appreciate it. jon: among the stories we're following this hour. you heard projection that is obamacare will lead to a doctor shortage. a medical doctor who says no is joining to us discuss it. plus, caught on tape, a

snowball fight breaks out at the university of oregon. now some of the students are in big trouble.

jenna: according to some estimates the nation could face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors in the next decade. that is according to the association of american medical colleges. among the reasons is, our aging population and also doctors retiring in large numbers. the association also says though that obamacare, the new health care law, is making this worse. our next guest a frequent critic of obamacare says maybe the

doctor shortage thing is a little overblown. dr. gottlieb was a senior official for centers for medicare & medicaid services during the bush administration. he joins us now. you had penned this op-ed piece with ezekiel emanuel, a strong supporter of the health care law. you both came together in this magical moment to say the doctof this law. why do you think that? >> people are making an assumption of a doctor shortage overall and making really assumptions based on today's resource use, how doctors practice medicine right now. we know medicine will be more productive in the future andrx productivity will increase you have to allow for that. there will be a lot of non-physician providers providing physician services in the future. you can't make straight line assumptions and project out into the future since there are many more old people in the future and this many more people insured you will have a shortage. you have to allow for dynamic effect. jenna: the association again, association of medical colleges

says they expect 32 million more people to enter into the insurance market. >> right. jenna: they're looking year by year, their projections 2015 seeing a doctor shortage of nearly 63,000. so, you're saying technology, having more nurse practitioners and nurses and other people that can help you beside doctors will make up the difference but how can it make up difference for an additional tens of millions of people? >> people are getting medical care right now are getting medical care inefficiently. simply giving them insurance card doesn't mean they will become more efficient users of medical care. in fact we know when people enter into better insurance schemes or insurance schemes treatment patterns don't change a lot often times unfortunately. when people go from medicaid to medicare, medicare being much better insurance benefit they access medical care the same way they did when they were medicare beneficiaries. assuming 30 million more people are getting care. they weren't getting care before that they will create a shortage

that is little bit naive assumption. they were getting care before. they were getting care inefficiently. unfor the lately a lot of people will get different treatment. jenna: different doctors have different points of views. >> sure. jenna: you have been a practicing physician in your time. a pediatric heart surgeon wrote in the "wall street journal" little more anecdotal talking about feeling it is to practice medicine. compensation levels are falling to doctors to medicare and medicaid. that is not a good thing. the new law did not stop lawsuit and malpractice premiums. his thinking it is really creating a bifurcated market. where you have physicians, limited amount will accept medicare and medicaid and lines will be longer to see them. more people will be able to see them. >> right. jenna: you will get other doctors that will be concierge doctors, where if you're wealthy you can afford to go to them get great care. if you're not, middle class or lower class you will not be able to do that. how concerned are you about a bifurcated market.

>> patients with medicaid they will have a hard time getting access to physicians. patients who have obamacare will have a hard time as well because you will not see physicians taking those insurance schemes. it will feel like there's a shortage to a lot of people because you can not get an appointment. i don't think there i will be shortage overall. there will be enough physicians. people are in different insurance schemes in different markets. jenna: dr. emanuel said you can have the doctor if you pay for it. if you can pay the services but if you don't make a million dollars. >> or pay for hit completely. one thing to remember about obamacare, difference is bronze plan and platinum plan is co-payment structure. you don't get better network of physicians and drug formulary. you can not buy up to better benefit just basically pay down the co-pays. if the doctor is not in a network, a lot of times you will have to pay out-of-pocket completely. jenna: this is interesting side-effect. see seek kielman all was to be

on with you. kumbayah moment. maybe some day scott weill have that. you get stuck on a train in the snow. we welcome him back on the program anytime. good to see you. scott? >> thank you very much. jenna: jon? jon: suck zero temperatures slowing down efforts to find a couple and four children missing since sunday. the latest on search by air and land in the snowy west. plus what we know about the family. also, bye-bye super bugs? is it possible a medical breakthrough that could take down antibiotic resistant infections?

jenna: still to come this hour, a breakthrough in medicine. doctors and engineers invent new technology to fight some tough diseases. what we're finding out about the field of nano medicine. we'll talk about that in a few moments. also some new information on a snowball fight that went terribly wrong. viral video showing a day of fun turning downright dangerous when college students form a mob and turn on innocent bystanders. what we're learning about the fallout from this. a new push by medical professionals to stop an epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse. jon: well breaking right now, the search is on for a family missing in the nevada mountains. investigators say a couple and four children went out to play

in the snow on sunday in their four-wheel drive. they have not been seen since. william la jeunesse is live from the west coast newsroom. what is the latest on the search there, william? >> reporter: jon, so far no good news. every hour that goes by the outlook looks worse. helicopters, aircraft with night vision, infrared, dogs and ground crews searching for two adults 34-year-old james glanton and his 26-year-old girlfriend, christina mcintee. four children, ages 10, three, and two four-year-olds. two belong to the couple. the other is a niece and nephew. they were last seen on sunday afternoon in a black and silver jeep headed into the mountains more than an hour east of reno in some very rugged mountains. the seven troughs refer to seven steep canyons in remote federal land area popular with hikers and campers. the problem is, not just that the area is inaccessible. you have several inches of snow but temperatures hit minus 16 and 10 below last night. raising the risk of hypothermia

which can begin at just 50 degrees. shivering, poor judgment and later confusion and a loss of consciousness. dozens of volunteers and police are headed out shortly to comb the area, hoping that the black roof of the jeep will stand out against the white snow allowing rescuers to get to the victims quickly. >> we don't know exactly where they were headed. we have a general idea and those areas are being searched. >> reporter: you know, hunters also go into this area, jon but very few are going to venture out in this type of cold weather. so they're probably alone out there. jon? jon: what are the conditions like right now? >> reporter: elevation, 7,000 feet. it is very windy. it is also bitter cold, especially since these people are just going out for a few hours to, quote, play in the snow according to relatives. which means it is highly unlikely they have down sleeping bags, cold weather gear, extra food or water. cell phone coverage is spotty. by now you assume their

batteries are likely dead. >> we just got to find them. we've known them forever, you know. those little tiny kid can not be out there. none of them can be out there in the cold like this. >> reporter: the only good news the skies are clear again today, the sun is shining. high noon will be around 36 degrees but the mirror off the jeep, jon, arguably hit reflection to hit one of the aircrafts but there is no hint that either of these individuals have sure careful skills training. jon: a sad story so far. let's hope they find them. william la jeunesse. thank you. jenna: potential breakthrough in fighting drug resistant bacteria for super bugs may be just some things that we haven't found a great cure for. researchers engineered a microscopic nano medicine to kill fungi. this development suggests technology that started out as a narrow cure could be used more generally to kill bacterial infections that kill a billion

people every year. one possible aplycation of nanotechnology. we have a assistant professor at wake forest baptist medical center and done a great amount of research. and a doctor from vanderbilt university. thankthank you for joining us. we're fascinated by this. nicole, what is nanotechnology? >> nanotechnology is essentially working with materials that are about a billion times smaller than a meter. so we typically work with small particles and they can kind of traverse through the bloodstream and get to diseases pretty rapidly. jenna: so how do you put a nano particle into someone's body? >> so you could either inject it or could do it as a topical type of cream and that's primarily what the ibm researchers have kind of devised is going after a topical ointment that can go after the fungus. jenna: nicole one more question before i ask the doctor to step in as well.

for something like athlete's foot you can go into the drugstore to see a bunch of creams to treat something like that, why would be more effective or another option for consumers? >> so this actually type treats the infection a little bit differently than some of the common treatments. it gives a physical disruption to the microbes. that is very different than a chemical mechanism some that could be a very good advantage for a resistant type of fungus. jenna: so doctor, let me ask you about this now. they found totally like a sci-fi movie, right? these nano particles going into your body and seeking out the bad stuff to help you cure it. we've done a lot of stories on our program about superbugs and what will happen when antibiotics are no longer useful. could this be the next stage? is this the next place for medicine to go? >> it is certainly an exciting 21st century innovation. it is a way of treating microbes that are completely different than antibiotics or anything

else we've tried of the so we're all very excited about this, but, it will not be available in the doctor's office in two weeks or anything like that. we still have a long research journey to go. jenna: we would love to have it in two weeks. how long before it becomes mainstream? where do you in particular see it being most effective? >> research will tell us where it is the most effective but we hope broadly and i would still think several years worth of research. jenna: nicole, can you walk us through what it would look like if we were going to try this out? would we go to a doctor's office and they would, you know, give us a prescription for a cream with nanotechnology in it? or would they inject us? how would it work realistically an everyday basis? >> so i would be inclined to agree very strongly with dr. shaafer in, a lot of research needs to go into developing an effective treatment. once the research is done it would probably be delivered by a doctor's prescription just to be on the safe side because right now there is a lost unknowns.

the very promising treatments, but we need to do all of the research to make sure it is safe and effective. jenna: athlete's foot obviously can be a nuisance, doctor, but you say this could potentially treat cancer? how many different diseases could nanotechnology tackle? >> oh my goodness. there's a host -- i'm sorry. >> go ahead, nicole. >> i'm so sorry. jenna: no, no, hard sometimes with panels. nicole, you first, where do you see it going and doctor shafner i will get your thoughts as well. >> i apologize. using nano particles for particular disruption method to overcome chemical resistance for say bacteria, that is one advantage and for cancer some of the effective treatments have been for delivery of chemotherapy agents to get a very localized delivery to the cancer cells but also use heat to physically disrupt the cancer cells to cause them to die. physical disruption i think is where this new type of

nanotechnology is going. jenna: dr. shafner, i will have you pick up on that as well. what happens to the nano particles in your body? do they just disappear? are there risks associated with this? hypothetically it sound amazing. >> obviously we'll have to do research regarding safety but it would appear they biodegrade. so at the moment it looks pretty exciting that this kind of research will go on to determine its effectiveness and its safety in a variety of different circumstances. jenna: very interesting. it is good to have an idea of what all the amazing things that are being developed. you know, we have a lot of stories about really tough diseases hard to overcome. this is really exciting. we look forward to having you both back to learn more about it. nicole, doctor shafner, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. jon: a bit of medical news there. now a medical concern. new efforts to stop a growing epidemic in this country. we're talking about prescription

drug overdoses. they claim more lives each year than car crashes. do you believe that? startling statistics. plus what a major medical organization wants to do to try to save lives. also some college football players in big trouble for a snowball fight that went way too far and it is all caught on video. plus what the university is doing about it today.

jenna: new next hour, western diplomats arrive in the ukraine to diffuse growing political tension. that is what they're hoping to do. this as protests rage on the capitol condemning the president's decision to free ties with the e.u. a. a live report. a big story for us in eastern europe. irs is getting a new commissioner. there are concerns the president's pick could allow mortar getting of conservative

groups. we'll monitor today's confirmation hearing. we'll bring you any information as we get it. turning garbage into glass. how one group of students is putting your trash to good use. jon: right now punishments handed out for players on the university of oregon football team. several of them seen on a viral video taking a snowball fight way too far, going after cars, and at least one driver. julie banderas is here. she has details for us. >> college students being stupid. there is breaking news. jon: that happens. >> all fun and games, jon, until someone gets pelted with tons of snowball especially when the person getting ambushed is unwilling participant and all caught on tape, makes it worse. case in point, this professor at university of oregon who is seen getting out of his car on campus as a group of college students in daylight were spraying it with snowballs. he is seen calmly approaching students and launch the snowballs and full buckets of snow on top of him. now this viral video with more than two million views could be used as evidence against the

students that they were to be prosecute and could actually lead to criminal charges. the professor, an unidentified driver of second bar who gaat ambushed after last week's snowstorm are not pressing charges and the school is take it seriously and so are the suspended students. here it is oregon starting tight end farrell brown was suspended by his coach since issued an apology. in a statement he says i was one of the many uo students involved in the snowball fight on friday and my actions escalated to inappropriate level and for that i sincerely apologize. we never should have engaged innocent people and i deeply regret my actions and will accept the consequences. the school's dean of students also issued a statement on the university website which reads in part, the behavior exhibited in the video is unacceptable and will not be tolerated on our campus. student leaders are furious about the whole thing about the incredibly student act. ruined it for the rest of the student body because they had organize ad snowball fight near

the student center on the same day. they rained on that parade. jon: this is more like a flashmob snowball fight? >> more like a flashmob snowball fight with a professor who got stuck in the middle of it all. i would say the professor is a pretty good sport. i would be kind of angry. jon: julie banderas, thanks. jenna: i would be angry too. i wouldn't like that. a new push to save people from abusing drugs meant to hope them. prescription drug overdoses kill more americans than car crashes. a lot of them are from painkillers. what a major medical organization wants to do now to save lives. dr. siegel will talk to us about that. also an icy blast hitting the east coast but once it's gone the trouble isn't over. here's a live look outside our studios in new york city. i mean no snow fights, jon. jon: no. i'm a little disappointed. jenna: it's a little nasty out there. jon: nasty but not white. jenna: what you need to know about cold weather affecting some of you out there.

we'll get you an update coming up.

jon: well the doctor is in with a new push to stop a real epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse. drug overdoses from medications like percocet, vicodin and oxycodon are rising sharply in this country. 16,000 people died from accidental prescription overdoses in 2010. that is up from 4,000 in 191999. the american college of fedses will back tough new rules proposed by the fda which could include prescribing fewer pills at one time and making doctor visits mandatory if you want a

refill. dr. marc siegel, fox news medical a-team and professor of medicine at langone medical center. have you seen this coming? >> absolutely. fda made a stern statement saying like the drug hydrocodone commercially at vicodin is number one prescribed drug in the country. 131 million prescriptions t would be more restrictive. it is number one prescribed painkiller. it should be more restrictive. you know why, jon? currently i could give you a prescription that would last months and months and months. nurse practitioner could do it or a physician's assistant. schedule 2, which is more restrictive, painkillers like perk set or morphine, they are scheduled 2. we want vicodin schedule 2. if i have a schedule 2 patient, if i make a prescription you have to come back every three months and i have to see you. these drugs are so abused or overused. jon: a lot of people doctor

shop. they go to one doctor, say, oh my back hurts. they go to another doctor and say my knee hurts and get multiple prescriptions right? >> and, yes, jon, 7 0% of the time it is not taken by the person it is prescribed for. it sits in the medicine cabinet. somebody is pill shopping, not doctor shopping and have chronic pain. it has never been shown for chronic pain. opioids or narcotics, for knee surgery and back surgery for first little while. don't use five years later. a lot of doctors are ambushed because as you said they're doctor shopping. jon: does the fault lie with the patients pushing doctors prescribing stuff or lie with the fellow physicians? >> i always blame the physician, not the patient. physicians are not aware when giving out a vicodin prescription or perk set prescription that you have acetaminophen in it. that is number one cause for liver fail from prescription drugs. you have to have a reason for it. patients get addicted.

doctors are the ones doing addiction. i call us enablers. jon: if this proposal goes through, for instance, requiring that you get a doctor's prescription, for some of these medications that up till now people have been able to get, go to the pharmacy to get a refill on, people will be upset about that. there will be a blowback, isn't there? >> because a lot, there is issue of cancer care and issue of people that really need this and i don't want to go on the air here and start bashing this drug too much. jon: because they are effective. >> they are great drugs but 131 million prescriptions a year is way too much. so we have to cut back. there is too much options, too many alternatives. as a matter of fact, at the same time that the fda is coming out saying that we should restrict these drugs, they're also approving a new one called that is another hydrocodone. why are they putting another new one on the market at the same time they're asking us to cut back? we have too many options in terms of narcoticses. doctors have too many options which give patients too many

options. jon: doctors should be on the lookout for patients too enthusiastic getting this stuff. >> right, jon. how about the dea coming down on doctors for that more? we see that with celebrity care. why isn't the dea more involved in putting the teeth to this and saying to doctors you will get in trouble for doing this? jon: prescription drug abuse. that is a big problem. >> it's a killer. jon: this may be a potential solution. >> good thing. jon: dr. marc siegel, thank you. jenna: growing unrest in the ukraine is a big story this week. the latest on the fallout from the president's decision there to free ties from the e.u. and force closer ties with russia. what that means for us ahead. next whiteout conditions for those of us in northeast cities. causing long delays for airports. when will the snow and freezing rain stop. a big question for us? we'll be right back after a quick commercial break.

jenna: some big be developments to our top stories and breaking news this hour. jon: are we seeing a shakeup at the white house? a former clinton administration staffer just brought in weeks before the obamacare enrollment deadline. and another big snowstorm right outside our studio. what it could mean for holiday shoppers and travelers really on the eastern seaboard. we'll also talk to a member of the house foreign affairs committee as secretary kerry tries to sell the controversial nuclear deal with iran to congress. these stories and more all "happening now." ♪ ♪ jenna: first, as we mentioned, a shakeup at the white house raising some eyebrows this morning. it's great to see you, everybody, welcome to a brand new hour of "happening now," hoping you're cozy and warm inside somewhere watching us, we appreciate that, i'm jenna lee. jon: cozy and warm sounds good on this tuesday, i'm jon scott. john podesta joining the white

house staff now as what's calls a counselor. now all eyes are on current chief of staff, dennis mcdun nowg, who brought in to december toe. is it a move to save his own job? meanwhile, republican senate lindsay graham says he is signing up using the federal exchange, but he's doing it to show americans just how bad costs can get. >> i can go into the d.c. exchange with about a 60% subsidy. most people in south carolina will not get that deal. i'm going to sign up in the south carolina exchange. my premiums are going to go up by almost $5,000, and the coverage i get is a fraction of what i used to have. this movie is coming to visit you soon. the goal of this bill is to destroy private care and put everybody into government-run health care. jon: our chief white house correspondent ed henry live at the white house now. so, ed, john podesta coming from -- well, coming to the

white house after serving in the clinton administration, among other places. why? >> reporter: well, wise old democratic hand, they clearly need to stabilize things around here as lindsey graham as a republican lays out that case. the president himself has acknowledged this was a botched rollout, they've got to fix it. john podesta, widely respected not just in the democratic party, there are republicans on the hill who believe he's a good manager, somebody who can sort of right the ship around here, perhaps. but when you think about the fact that you've heard about addition by subtraction where you take somebody off the team and that makes the team better, this is addition by addition. the current chief of staff bringing in john podesta, thinking this is somebody who has the wisdom of being through the clip don impeachment and other big dramas here in washington can help things out. but where's the subtraction? will secretary sebelius be held accountable for the mistakes of the botched rollout? so far they've said over and over we're not doing monday

morning quarterbacking suggesting they're probably not going to fire anyone around here, so this may be a good move to bring on podesta, but the question is whether or not they're going to remove anybody as well to try and turn the page on that botched rollout, jon. jon: none of these staff moves are going to matter much if they can't get the health care law right. >> reporter: that's right. you mentioned lindsey graham saying it was difficult for him to enroll, lisa murkowski, another senator stepped up, and she spent three days, she says, logging on -- she looks a little beleaguered in the photo, but she actually was able to enroll, in the president's law, and they're hoping at the white house there's been frustrations, but at the end of the day the site's getting better and eventually people are going to actually be helped and feel some of the benefits. when you pick up "the washington post" today and see a lead story saying some of these expensive drugs people are expecting dealing with hiv or other chronic decides, they're not going to be covered by some insurance companies now under

this new law. it suggests there's going to be not just sticker shock on prices, but other problems that pop up as well. jon: yeah. the bad headlines on obamacare just keep coming, and we're going to be talking about this john podesta appointment later on in the hour. ed henry, thanks. jenna: meantime, in washington state this is the error message many people are seeing when they try to log on to the state-run exchange. problems plaguing the site last week, but larger problems now stemming from the site's verification system meaning people who are shopping for coverage cannot go on the site to compare be health plans, find out if they're eligible for the subsidies that senator graham mentioned or complete an online application. no word yet when that site will be back up and running as the deadline for coverage beginning on january 1st is now less than two weeks away. jon: right now we are awaiting secretary of state john kerry on capitol hill where he is expected to face tough questions over our proposed nuclear deal with iran. he's set to testify less than an

hour from now before the house foreign affairs committee. secretary kerry will try to defend the landmark agreement in spite of concerns expressed by several lawmakers that it is far too weak and actually allows tehran to continue enriching uranium. florida congresswoman ileana raz lehtonen sits on the house foreign affairs committee, she joins us live. congresswoman, you don't like this deal. why? >> absolutely not. secretary kerry said getting a bad deal would be worse than getting no deal. well, that's what we ended up getting. we've got a bad deal. and he's going to try to sell this case to congress today, but it's a pretty tough sell. why? because we made concession after concession in this nuclear deal with iran, and iran gives up precious little. what we're doing is that we're saying iran does have a right to enrich, and in return what are we -- we're making all of these concessions, we're doing away with the sanctions regime. now, i am the author of the

toughest sanctions law that we've ever had on the books, and this deal virtually wipes them away. it is a lesser bar, it's a lower bar than the u.s. security council -- u.n. security council resolutions, and it's lesser than u.s. law. so we've actually lowered the bar. what i think will happen is that iran will comply. why shouldn't it? they'll be complying with every part of this nuclear deal. in fact, they will invite the nuclear inspectors to come to iran, and the media will fawn over them, the obama administration will say, hey, they're complying. yeah, we've set the bar so low, of course they're going to comply. jon: these are days in which getting bipartisan agreement is pretty difficult on capitol hill, but there are bipartisan concerns about this deal, even congressmen like new york democrat eliot engel are expressing concerns about what's gone on here. >> well, because we have seen that sanctions work. we have seen that they worked against iran's mullahs, and

remember, this is still a state sponsor of terrorism. and the human rights abuses are horrendous. and under this moderate leader, so-called moderate, rouhani, there have been so many executions and beheadings. he is a ruthless dictator, and the ayatollah is behind him calling the shots. and we have seen that getting tough with iran has been able to cripple its economy, and it's gotten them to a very weak currency, and now they have nowhere else to go. they need this escape, and they see a very hungry, eager united states willing to barter away with this regime. and we're really giving away the store. so i know that secretary kerry will do his best, but we believe that strong sanctions and diplomacy, but strong sanctions will work. jon: what do you think is the motivation for the administration at this point in time to ease up on the sanctions? >> well, i think that the president in his second term, as many presidents have, they feel

the need to build on their legacy. and i think that he has a burning desire to earn that nobel peace prize that was prematurely given to him. and he's done it with syria. we signed this accord thinking that they're going to get rid of their chemical weapons and with russia being the lead, taking the lead when russia has been part of the problem in syria, and now we're doing it again with iran. i think that the president sees that the united states population is war weary, but this is a false choice to say that it's either war with iran or getting this deal. this is not a binary choice. sanctions have worked. we've got to continue the pressure. remember, with all of these negotiations iran has continued its program. they just say that it's for domestic use and for peaceful purposes. how -- this is just unbelievable that we're falling for this rouhani ruse. he's going to charm us out of, out of our safety.

jon: congresswoman, you have -- you are of cuban heritage, you have long been a critic of the castro regime. when you saw the handshake between the president and raul castro, what are your thoughts? >> well, it is nauseating. i was worn in cuba -- born in cuba, had to leave my native homeland along with my family because of the communist oppression, and like so many thousands of people that i represent in our community, they are also refugees of the castro regime because they had to flee. and he shook the hand of a murderer, a thug, and those are bloodied hands. but i worry more about policy than i do about a handshake. if it's just a handshake, that's not going to produce any change, well, i think raul castro should have listened to what obama said. he said some of these leaders say that they praise mandela, but they don't really act in the way that they respect the human rights of their countrymen. and i think that was a message to raul castro. jon: congresswoman ileana

ros-lehtinen, republican of florida, thank you. >> appreciate it. jenna: we'll be revisiting that. also a fox news extreme weather alert, check out this shot. it doesn't look that bad outside of our studios here in new york city, this is philadelphia national airport on your screen right now, maybe a good explanation for why there's flight delays around the country. this is the scene in more than a dozen cities across the mid atlantic right now, the white house also getting its share of snow. near whiteout conditions in a lot of places with snow and freezing rain causing big delays. just outside our studios here in new york city, sixth avenue, as i mentioned, we're not getting it as bad as others are. you can see some wet cement out there, jon, that can make travel hard around the city, but it's not too bad. we're kind of lucky here. david lee miller is not as lucky, because he has to stand outside. [laughter] and he's live in times square with more about all of this storm on the east coast. david lee?

>> reporter: you know, jenna, it has now been snowing in new york city for a little more than three hours. take a look at times square off in the distance, and you can sees the not accumulating. no accumulation whatsoever. the ground temperature warmer than freezing. but we also have some videotape recorded a few hours ago, you can see how heavily it was snowing just a few hours ago, and a winter weather advisory remains in effect for new york city until 5 p.m. and, yes, the salt spreaders are on the streets. so far, though, the plows are not on the streets. they're waiting for more accumulation, if there is any. the bad weather might have slowed the morning commute, but most tourists here are having a good time, and they see the snow as more of an added attraction. >> still new york. love to be here, so whether coming in for commuting into work or not, slowing thinkings down a bit, but can't complain. >> oh, it's beautiful. we're from canada, so we're used to snow. [laughter] >> oh, yeah, out on the street. seeing everything you can.

>> reporter: and you're looking now at a live picture at the airport if philadelphia. philadelphia not as lucky as new york. really they received a double whammy, 8.5 inches yesterday, more snow today, as much as half a foot is forecast. as you would expect, schools in philadelphia and many of the surrounding suburbs are closed. elsewhere around the east coast, new jersey, tough road conditions. u.s. courts closed in trenton, newark and camden. in washington, d.c. schools are closed, but as it turns out, the traffic problems nowhere near as bad as had been predicted. and in delaware, all state offices are closed. let's take a moment now to talk about the airports specifically here in new york city. newark has delays of five and a half hours for arriving flights, jfk, departures are delayed a little more than an hour. laguardia, delays for departures about five hours and in philadelphia, which we just saw, flights there were grounded just a few hours ago. they have now resumed, but the inbound flights delayed for more

than four hours. and in philadelphia at least 35 cancellations reported today in just the last if few hours. last few hours. the bottom line here, jenna, keep this in mind: officially winter doesn't start for another ten days. back to you. jenna: once the christmas lights go up, i just count it. but you're right, david lee, not officially winter. [laughter] thank you, sir. jon: well, it has not been what you might call a good year for the irs. but after scandals and departures, a new commissioner could soon be in charge. there are new questions, though, whether he will let the targeting of conservative groups continue. and the white house slammed by criticism over obamacare, but is the message they're putting out partially to blame? a guy who knows, former white house press secretary ari fleischer is here to talk about presidential public relations. ♪ ♪

-and-a-half pennsylvania well, "happening nd really over the last several weeks, the white house bogged down with criticism over the struggling obamacare rollout. the president holding events and speeches to play up the benefits as press secretary jay carney gets really hammered really at the daily briefings. this is a daily occurrence now. administration members and surrogates hitting the sunday shows for weeks now, but the so-called architect of obamacare addressing poor enrollment numbers with chris wallace this sunday called it really a public relations problem. >> no one has launched a big pr campaign to get these people signed up because of the problems with the federal web site. we are about to launch a big pr campaign, and that, i think, is going to persuade a lot of people. jenna: now to a man who knows something about pr, ari fleischer used to be the press secretary for president bush, he knows the hot seat well. he joins us now to talk about the president's public relations efforts. no hot seat today, ari. [laughter] nice to have you with us.

>> great to be here. jenna: can pr fix this? >> no, i predict dr. emanuel is not going to be put out on my more shows. jenna: why has he been? >> i think they're trying to find the right person who can articulately discuss. the problem they have of a fundamental one of it just not working, and that's a substance issue. a lot of white houses, both parties, make the mistake of saying it's a pr problem. no, the problem is designed into the law itself. jenna: if you were called in, and and they said, ari fleischer, how do we go forward? >> well, first, i wouldn't answer the phone. [laughter] but if i were giving advice to the president, i'd say, one, keep your eye set on the long term. as he has been doing. the heart of this is if we can get insurance to people who previously did not have it, that's at the core of obamacare. the problem is they're doing it in a way that takes it away and hurts other people. they're not just helping some, they're hurting others. secondly, start telling all the successful stories of springs who previously did not --

individuals who previously did not have insurance who are now getting it. do they have enough good stories they can put out there to make up for the many bad stories about people paying more, getting less, not getting access, those kinds of issues. jenna: we've heard a little bit about that strategy, maybe going to local markets, local newspapers telling some local stories, making, you know, connections with local journalists to do that. in your opinion, though, has the story already been writt in the way that the public has framed this policy? >> that's their fundamental problem when it comes to communications. right around october 1st was their shining moment, and it doesn't go well. what they should have done leading into this, the president should have been advised this is not going to go well. no white house wants to get surprised. they got surprised. he should have been down playing expectations, and on october 1st he should have said this is not sufficient, i'm not satisfied. he didn't. he down played the problems, so they start out with such a deep, deep hole in credibility on this

issue then, the president's promise that if you like your insurance, you can keep it, which turned out wrong. jenna: you mentioned surprises, if i could pause on that for a moment. the president seemed surprised, that's what he said to everybody. >> right. jenna: but there's been no consequence, and that's where the conversation leads to, well, does someone need to be fired to send that right message? what do you think about that? >> i don't blame them now for not firing anybody. it was be tantamount to an admission, and it would become a flashpoint. the last thing they want is flash points now. they're right to put their finger in the dike for a little while. at some point, there's going to have to be accountability. wait for things to go well enough long enough, if that ever happens, and then let the secretary of hhs take the heat. hhs should have advised the president this is not going to go well. that was a fundamental problem hhs made. jenna: just a little bit inside the beltway, but we're seeing some old names back into new positions at the white house.

john podesta the being one of them. what do you make of that, and what does that mean for your average person out there about how the white house is being run? >> average person means nothing, most people can't name who the white house chief of staff is now or who this new counselor is going to be. john podesta is a gray beard, he's accomplished, he's successful, he's done it before, but the problem they're going to have is this is so, it really is much less than meets the eye. their fundamental problems are the law, its substance, obamacare, democrats starting to cut and run. republicans are now winning a senate race in the latest poll in michigan for open seat in the senate. that's a big surprise. that's their problem. jenna: love to have you come back and talk about that crisis of confidence in general in government, especially when we look at congress can and both sides. ari, it's great to have you. >> happy to be here, jenna. jenna: thank you so much. jon? jon: new questions about the administration's real interpretations in its nuclear talks with iran. one journalist says the white house just wants to contain

iran, not actually stop its nuclear ram altogether. -- program altogether. is this really the case? and protesters growing more restless by the day as they fight their president's plan for closer ties with russia. how will this end in ukraine?

jenna: right now some new questions over thed administration's real end game in our negotiations with iran. in a new "wall street journal" article, foreign affairs columnist brett stephens says our ultimate goal on iran's nuclear program isn't ending it, but containing it despite comments from the president and other comment -- commentary. take a listen. >> as to the iranians' red line, um, persian gulf, some of the

iranian questions you ask, i support the president's strong position on containment. jenna: i support the president's strong position on containment, is what chuck hagel just said, but steven joins us now. of course, you know about that, but i want to repeat it because some say it was a slip, you say it was intention bal. >> no, it's the difference between people said he misspoke or didn't know what he was talking about. it's what in washington is known as a gaffe, accidental and embarrassing telling of the truth. of course, the administration's real position on iran within the bowels of the your rocky, but -- bureaucracy, but i also think they are prepared to accept iran as a nuclear threshold state and to try to devise a policy to contain that. it's not a prevention strategy, and i think that's been, that's been demonstrated by the terms of geneva agreement which the president is now misrepresenting. jenna: how? >> well, for instance, he gave a

talk in washington with last week in which e -- he said this deal does not have, does not grant iran any right to enrich uranium. and yet it recognizes that iran enriches uranium, it allows iran to continue to enrich uranium, and in its preamble it says we are going to come to a mutually-agreed definition of the kind of enrichment that iran is going to be able legally to do once a final agreement is reached. another thing the president says is that this deal stops construction of a plutonium reactor in the city of arak. as a matter of fact, the foreign minister says it just prevents them from fueling the plant. so they're building all of the stuff around the plant in order for it to be finally ready. jenna: some of what you just mentioned there is why there's bipartisan support on capitol hill to maybe pass another round of sanctions that would go into effect six months from now after this further negotiation has taken place if, indeed, it does

not stop iran's nuclear program. what do you think about that, the fact that democrats and republicans are coming together on this issue? >> i think it underscores the president's political weakness. part of that is, i think, the obamacare rollout and being a lame duck second term president. but i think there is genuine and serious understanding by people, republicans like mark kirk and democrats like senator me 9/11 diss from new jersey, that if sanctions were so successful in at least bringing the iranians to the table, then we probably need to strengthen the sanctions regime to get them to some kind of reasonable final deal. by weakening them, we're signaling to the iranians that they're going to get to keep their nuclear program intact and get rid of those sanctions. jenna: so where do you think is the disconnect? because the president and senate democrats are normally this lockstep. why in this issue are they not? >> well, i think that in some ways the president has simply departed from the policy that he was pursuing for the past two

years. and i think this really has upset a lot of, a lot of senate democrats who understood that the only -- if you're going to be serious about iran, you can talk about a military strategy, or you can talk about sanctions strategy. but what the president is doing something else, which is really an engagement strategy and a containment strategy, and they're not prepared to live with the regime that just recently was trying to bomb a restaurant in washington, d.c. without the benefit of nuclear weapons. what would they do with nuclear weapons? jenna: just a quick final question for you, i like to look at what the ayatollah puts out on twitter. he said recently my dream is one day we can run the country, iran, in a way that, if necessary, we can avoid exporting even a drop of oil. that day when we gain our country's revenue through our knowledge and our science and can shut down oil wells, that will be a good day for us. >> well, yeah. if he has a nuclear -- i'm sure he's not talking about renewable

green fuels -- jenna: that's not the type of hashtag science he's referring to? >> right. he also recently called israel a rabid dog. so let's not forget what kind of regime this is. jenna: it's interesting to see what's coming from that country. we'll watch those words carefully, as you point out, they matter. brett, thank you. >> good to be here. jenna: jon? jon: well, a man who wants to leave the irs could answer some tough questions on capitol hill after recent comments that the irs targeting of conservative groups was not illegal or even improper. and a shakeup for the obama administration, might we soon see a lot of new faces inside the white house?

jenna: well, the irs trying to turn the page after a very bad year. the president's pick for irs commissioner facing a confirmation hearing in the senate today, but there are growing concerns about previous comments he's made about the targeting of conservative groups. at one point he even rejected the notion that subjecting tea party groups was illegal or improper. he's not the only one, but some of those other folks were not potentially irs commissioner. carl cameron swoops in behind me with her on this story. carl, what's happened so farsome. >> reporter: hi, jenna. you know, it's important to know that this guy, john koskinen, was nominated 120 days ago, and there has been a holdup, and it's the irs scandal. congressional republicans want the investigations of the

scandal completed before proceedings go forward, and the meeting just ended a few months ago -- a few minutes ago, excuse me. it is not at all clear when we'll get a final vote, but he kit address the agency's admitted misconduct before 2012 rex. he did -- election. he did so today trying to reassure lawmakers that he gets it, there's a problem, and if he gets the job, he'll try to fix it. watch. >> in every area of the irs, taxpayers need to be confident that they will be treated fairly no matter what their background or their affiliations. public trust is the irs' most important and valuable asset. >> reporter: and, obviously, it's taken a huge hit because of this. there are a whole bunch of other issues. the irs is working on new rules, that's very controversial because a lot of groups exist now, they don't want to be restricted or muzzled. many think that political spending amounts to free speech and, frankly, such rules shouldn't be made by the irs, they ought to be made by the federal election commission or

congress rather than the internal revenue service which has had some real questions about its management ability here. jenna: and, carl, how does obamacare factor into this? >> reporter: big. [laughter] it's a sixth of the national economy, so it's pretty huge. the irs is tasked with collecting the fines for people who don't get insurance on the the exchanges if they don't have coverage now. never mind the fact that it is involved in all the agencies and the revenues of the entire government, so the obamacare problems with the launch and its management all are a reflection of whether the irs can handle its own duties, never mind everybody else's. and what republicans did today was essentially objected to the nomination going forward while the senate is in session. it was meant to say, look, we've got congressional investigations that are not getting the full cooperation, and we're not going to have a commissioner until we get to the bottom of what actually happened and hold people accountable. jenna: carl, thank you. >> reporter: you bet.

jon: let's get back to the shakeup at the white house. former chief of staff to bill clinton, john podesta, is joining the administration as a counselor, we're told. it's widely seen as a respected washington veteran coming in to clean up after the badly-botched obamacare rollout. current chief of staff dennis mcdonough pushing for the new addition as the white house faces even more personnel moves in the coming months. so what's going on? joining us now, ellison barber, a writer with the washington freebie con. always kind of interesting to me whenever somebody who was identified closely with the clinton administration comes into the obama white house. >> it really is interesting, and you said he is very well connected, he's a very good strategist and very well respected throughout d.c. i think it's pretty obvious that the obama administration realizes they've had some big problems in the rollout, and they need someone to help them clean up shop, and this seems to be an effort at doing that. jon: mr. podesta will help

mr. mcdonough on matters related to the health care law. that could be a full-time job. >> right. and he's also supposed to be advising on executive orders and climate policy. one thing that's interesting to note is that john podest out a n the affordable care act was saying medicare took me five minuters to sign up, and then he asked the question, single-payer system, anyone? a lot of people, he's someone that is very far left, and they may be worried about the solutions he will come up with, but also he's been very big with the center for american progress on the climate side as well. jon: just as an aside, what does he need medicare for? isn't he one of those people who should just be voluntarily? >> he is. that's another thing is that while he may be really qualified in terms of a strategic stand point be, he is also the founder of center for american progress which is the most influential liberal think tank in d.c. he's worth a lot of money, his brother's actually tony podesta who's the president of the

podesta group, one of the largest lobbying groups in d.c., so there are questions for the administration for someone who claimed to be against that secret money that he has hired someone who is affiliated with, who the president is critical of. it's inconsistent for the president to bring him on. jon: he was at the white house when the monica lewinsky mess was plaguing the clinton administration. maybe that's a connection there. he comes also as a guy named pete rouse is leaving the white house. he's been the president's adviser for, well, back to the time when he was an illinois senator. here's a picture of rouse. "the new york times" points out mr. podesta and mr. rouse share some similarities. both are older than the 52-year-old president, mr. rouse is 67, mr. podesta nearly 65, and are said to be able to speak candidly to him, much like party elders. both also have far more experience, washington

experience, than mr. obama. so this is a case, maybe, of a gray beard coming in to steady an administration that's a little shaky? >> possibly. john podesta is certainly a washington insider. he has great connections both from his nonprofit which has been able to be successful because of those connections but also through the relations he established under the clinton administration. someone who has connections where the president doesn't that he could reach out and maybe help particularly moving forward in the pr campaign to try to make the affordable care act look a little bit better. jon: we'll see if they get a steady hand on the tiller. thanks for coming in. jenna: new concerns for obamacare this hour, a brand new survey showing that less than two weeks before a very critical deadline, most americans still have more questions than answers when it comes to the controversial law. our kate rogers is a foxbusiness.com reporter and joins us more on this. >> reporter: hey there, jenna. well, the deadline for the affordable care act's open enrollment period is drawing nearer, and a new survey finds

americans are feeling more informed about president obama's signature legislation, but this isn't necessarily leading to action. the polls from the center for health studies finds while 60% of people feel informed about the law, 59% have not taken action to prepare for the aca. and what's more, uninsured people, and they're the part this law is hinging its success on, have more questions than answers about the new law. 31% of the ininsured have not heard of these federal and state health care exchanges compared to about 15% of the general population. the survey finds that the uninsured are the least active when it comes to the aca. transamerica also finds there's a least satisfied and least prepared when it comes to navigating our changing health care system. and we all know under the individual mandate, every person in the country has to have insurance by the end of open enrollment period on april 1, 2014. they'll face a penalty of $95 or

1% of their annual income for failing to have insurance. in order for this insurance to kick in on january 1, 2014, consumers have to enroll in a plan by december 23rd and that's just about two weeks from today. more than half of americans said their employer has either not provided them informs, or they don't know if they've done so. jenna: some interesting insight for us today, kate. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jon: we are continuing to keep an eye on a snowstorm slamming the east coast right now. coming up, the latest on the mess it is leaving behind and where this thing is headed next. in. plus, a truly heart-warming moment when a little girl is surprised by her army sergeant dad after a whole year apart. >> excuse me, do you work at the fox news channel? >> what makes you think that? [laughter] >> silly me. what's coming up? >> john kerry's going to be going to capitol hill to try to

convince congress he's made a good deal. >> see you later.

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jon: now a fox news alert, an anti-government protesters in ukraine getting increasingly defiant. they are angry over their president's decision to turn down a landmark deal with the european union and establish stronger ties with russia instead. patti ann brown live in the new york newsroom for us with the latest. >> reporter: polls show most ukrainians want deeper ties with the soviet union, but the president of this eastern european nation has resisted such calls. in fact, he recently decided not to back an e.u. pact, choosing instead to restore trade relations with russia. that decision was supported by many in eastern ukraine where economic turns with giant russia are considered a priority. but in western ukraine the decision spark sparked massive protests some in the capital key

jeff were attended by hundreds of thousands of ukraine items -- ukrainians, many of them students. police arrested some of the protesters x can that only served to fuel the tensions. but now the president says he'll ask the country's general prosecutor to find a way to release some of those demonstrators. he made the offer during a televised broadcast of a meeting with the country's three former presidents. it only covers protesters who have not committed grave crimes and who have children or families. this poster thes tearing down a statue of vladimir lenin. opposition leaders demand the president fire those making concessions. he did say he was still willing to sign the e.u. deal at a summit in the spring if better terms are offered. jon? jon: worth keeping an eye on that situation, patti ann brown. thank you. >> reporter: thanks. jenna: in other news, a little

girl in arizona already having a christmas she will surely never forget. her father, an army sergeant, surprised her in her kindergarten class after he had spent a year in afghanistan. >> daddy. >> hi, sunshine! jenna: well, she recognized him. although they had been talking over skype over the last year, that's little aliya and, of course, her dad. it was her dad's second tour in afghanistan, and he says all he wants for christmas is time with his family. it looks like a very happy little girl right there. jon: what a cute, cute story. check out this video released by the wisconsin department of transportation now. the driving snow and slick conditions making it possible or impossible be, i should say, for drivers on this highway in germantown to stop. you can see them skidding into one another. in the end, this pileup included about two dozen vehicles. fortunately, no serious injuries and certainly no deaths reported. jenna: scary to watch. jon: take it easy out there.

jenna: that's right. the white house making a last minute push to enroll people on the federal insurance exchange, but could cultural barriers be the latest challenge to obamacare? and, excuse me, a group of students playing with garbage finding new ways to transform it into items you use every day. a breakthrough in trash technology ahead.

jenna: well, right now an engineering marvel puts your gash anage to -- garbage to good use. alicia a acuna is live in denver with more. >> reporter: yeah, it doesn't smell bad, it just looks cool. this is so not your average recycling program. we talked to a team of scientists who have pat tempted a way to take your everyday

trash, food and all, and turn it into glass. the laboratory fridge is packed with a treasure-trove of leftovers. >> you have coffee, this is plain grass. >> we can eat the food and then use the waste to create materials that we need. >> reporter: lead researcher dr. ivan says worldwide demand for glass is booming. right now global usage stands at about 100 metric tons a year. the high-value minerals used to manufacture glass are normally dug out of mining pits. >> what we have done is that we can find the same material that the mining industry can provide today from a different source. >> reporter: in other words, food that grows from the ground is absorbing the same minerals. >> plants extract this from the ground, essentially. so in effect, the plants are doing the mining for us. >> reporter: items like egg shells, banana peels, peanut shells, corn husks get ground

down, melted in a furnace, and the liquid is cooled to form glass. scientists found two benefits to this method over conventional glass making. toxic agents do not have to be added to get rid of bubbles, and colors occur naturally. and the hope someday, jenna, is to be able to use this glass for windows or your smartphones. jenna? jenna: fascinating. alicia, thank you. >> reporter: sure. jon: cool. how much would you pay for a really good burger? $10, $20? how about $65? jenna: that's a little steep, don't you think? jon: yeah, i think so. but that's what it tells for. coming up, we're going to tell you why.

well, megyn kelliy is used to conducting the hard hitting introduce. and last night she had the tables turned on her.

watch. >> i care about protecting my audience and my boss pays me money to get out there and ask questions. and he thinks i know the questions that my audience wants the answers to. you can do it twice or throw times without seeming rude to get them back in bounds and then you have to let it g. >> you don't have to watch megyn on the tonight show. watch here every night on the fox news channel. >> one meal you will want to savor. the $65 burger. maybe megyn got one of those in la doing the show. >> looks good. >> send it back with her, right. the burger is made with one of the highest quality wa gu beef. it is topped with a vintage port

wine reduction and freshly shaved white truffles and hopefully easier to eat. >> and you can have it for $75 with flagra. >> if i would spend 65 i would spend 75. >> it looks thick. >> i don't know. >> you are expected to oat it with a knife and fork? >> come on, that is not american. crow, what do you think, comboif and fork. no, negative. >> all right. >> maybe we can get the crow, a burger like that for christmas on your tab? >> what? >> come on, you can do it, right? >> we'll have to leave it right there. >> we'll work on. it >> thank you for joining us today. america's nows headquarters starts right now. >> come on, buck up. fox nows alert, everybody.

serious questions are worked out with iran and we'll testify on the hill and welcome to hq. i am bill hemmer. >> law makers are sounding alarms of a lenient deal and the administration's idea to ease sanctions. and bret baier joins us now. it is a tough sale for john kerry, what are we expecting. >> as you look live in the house foreign relations committee. secretary kerry will have a tough sale and ask the law makers on capitol hill to give them time and he may point to the iran's foreign minister's comment that if law makers go a head with sanctions that would kick in, in six months if the iranians don't do what they said in the national part of the negotiations, that is a tentative structure of